AFTER a successful league race season, Madog Yacht Club, Porthmadog travelled to Scotland to take part in ‘Monster the Loch’ challenge row.

Loch Ness, part of the Caledonian Canal, is 24 miles long, approximately one mile wide and has an average depth of 400 feet. Peat flows in from the surrounding mountains giving the water a murky dark appearance. The temperature of the water is constant all year round at a chilly 5-6 degrees centigrade.

There have been tales of monsters in the Loch since the 6th century and a 14th Century inscription described the waters as ‘waves without wind, fish without fins, islands that float’.

In Gaelic folklore the monster is Each Uisge, one of the fearsome water horses which haunt almost every stretch of dark water in the Highlands.

MYC entered two Celtic Long boats, Madog and Fleetwing, a coxed coastal quad and a single coastal scull and spent a couple of days rowing at Loch Insh an adventure centre near Kingussie, before the main event on Saturday, 6 September.

The course began at Fort Augustus on the south shore, taking the competitors passed the infamous Urquhart Castle, under which, legend has it, a colony of monsters lurk in caves.

After 21 miles the course finish is at Dores beach just short of the northern end of the loch, before the Caledonian Canal heads towards Inverness and the Moray Firth.

118 boats of all designs, all human powered, took part.

here were visitors from North America and Canada, dragon boats from Yorkshire and a Cornish Pilot gig from Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, to mention just a few who had travelled to experience this iconic event which took place in perfect weather conditions, dry with a few clouds and a steady southerly breeze.

Fleetwing and Madog made a steady start with the faster design boats taking an early lead. As the flotilla of boats moved up the loch Captain Jerry Gilbertson in Fleetwing could see lone MYC sculler Wendy Grainge overtake and make good progress. The loch was calm and pleasant to row, the challenge being the distance.

Every now and again the wind made its presence felt as the rowers passed gullies on the southern shore of the loch. Occasionally Simon Pendrell in the bow of Fleetwing shouted “Headwind!” which enabled the crew to adapt their stroke and feather their oars against the effects of the wind.

Scottish pipe music drifted across the dark waters and the occasional shouts of encouragement were heard from the rowers as they dug in for the long row.

The first boat home was a SurfSki double in a time of 2hrs 31mins 5secs. MYC/Rex Porthmadog’s coastal quad scull finished the course in 2hrs 56mins 35secs.

In crew were; Mike James, Bob Chamberlain, Harry Richie and Mike and Karen Lowry.

MYC’s Wendy Grainge in her single scull completed the course in an impressive 3hrs 20mins and 9secs.

Fleetwing finished in 3hrs 31mins and 7secs. In crew were Linda O’Neil (Cox and stroke) Jerry Gilbertson also rowing and coxing, Ian Williamson, Rich Nolan and Simon Pendrell in the bow.

Finally, crewing Madog were Tina Skinner, Debbie Hughes, Elaine Hackett, Clare Oates and Ruth Taylor who completed the course in a time of 3hrs 38mins and 24secs.

Bob Chamberlain, who has completed Monster the Loch three times said: “I will never forget Saturday morning, standing on the bank with a few of the team, looking across the loch at the finish, which can’t quite be seen, in quiet contemplation to which everyone was daunted but 100% committed.”

Madog Yacht Club revealed their new rowing strip in Scotland, Wendy Grainge, Lisa Steele and manufacturer Square Blades designed the brighter and more dynamic kit, whilst still paying homage to the club flag and colours.

The flag design featuring a goats head is said to represent the herd of goats that grazed the headlands alerting visiting ships that they were close to Porthmadog Harbour in the days of the slate trade.

Madog Yacht Club Rowers have two more events before the season’s end.

On Saturday, 20 September two teams will be taking on the Great London River Race and finally the Castle to Castle challenge race, hosted by Caernarfon on Saturday, 11 October, where six crews from MYC Porthmadog will be competing to end the season.

If you would like to get involved with MYC Porthmadog Rowing please have a look at madog-rowing.co.uk for more details or [email protected]